So I bought one over the internet (CVS) and it costed me $48.49 with taxes and shipping ($45 before taxes). I just got it yesterday and just took the test and got the results. It was easy to use. Results in 20 to 40 minutes. I'm curious to see what happens after 40 minutes. It says that it is not valid after that.

I feel a little bad with the packaging they use for a one time test. I would love to see them change it from a plastic box with drawer to a cardboard one...or something that is recyclable...possibly even a biodegradable plastic. It seems really wasteful to me. Since the test has a shelf life, I think that using a biodegradable plastic may be a good solution. I'm not sure how costly it would be to do though.

The packaging is currently made with a 6 type plastic which is possible to recycle. However, Type 6 plastic (PS), such as Styrofoam, leach toxins and are very difficult to recycle.

kencarson saidAren't the oral tests more likely to produce a false positive? And that's why clinics stopped using them? I'm I wrong about this?

Either way, these aren't the type of tests that should disregard the benefits of having qualified clinicians deliver a positive diagnosis. Removing expert health professionals from the formula and expecting consumers to do the right thing is a recipe for disaster, not success.

Will three out of four people who find out they're positive via these home tests do the right thing and seek professional help? I think so, but it's not the 75% that worries me. I anticipate a more pronounced increase in infections, particularly within specific populations, because of home test kits like these.

The Kübler-Ross model begins with denial, then leads to anger. Keep this in mind when you throw a home HIV test into the U.S. consumer mix. It's a scary concept, especially when you take into account the average U.S. citizen's lack of intelligence and common sense.

These tests aren't comparable to home pregnancy tests, and they aren't designed to save lives; they're designed to generate profits for pharma.

metta8 saidSo I bought one over the internet (CVS) and it costed me $48.49 with taxes and shipping ($45 before taxes). I just got it yesterday and just took the test and got the results. It was easy to use. Results in 20 to 40 minutes. I'm curious to see what happens after 40 minutes. It says that it is not valid after that.

I feel a little bad with the packaging they use for a one time test. I would love to see them change it from a plastic box with drawer to a cardboard one...or something that is recyclable...possibly even a biodegradable plastic. It seems really wasteful to me. Since the test has a shelf life, I think that using a biodegradable plastic may be a good solution. I'm not sure how costly it would be to do though.

The packaging is currently made with a 6 type plastic which is possible to recycle. However, Type 6 plastic (PS), such as Styrofoam, leach toxins and are very difficult to recycle.

kencarson saidAren't the oral tests more likely to produce a false positive? And that's why clinics stopped using them? I'm I wrong about this?

There is a slightly higher possibility of a false positive with an oral swab test. The guidance clearly states, whether with a home test or administered by a clinic (the test chemistry is exactly the same), that a positive result must be followed with a blood test for confirmation.

metta8 saidSo I bought one over the internet (CVS) and it costed me $48.49 with taxes and shipping ($45 before taxes). I just got it yesterday and just took the test and got the results. It was easy to use. Results in 20 to 40 minutes. I'm curious to see what happens after 40 minutes. It says that it is not valid after that.

I feel a little bad with the packaging they use for a one time test. I would love to see them change it from a plastic box with drawer to a cardboard one...or something that is recyclable...possibly even a biodegradable plastic. It seems really wasteful to me. Since the test has a shelf life, I think that using a biodegradable plastic may be a good solution. I'm not sure how costly it would be to do though.

The packaging is currently made with a 6 type plastic which is possible to recycle. However, Type 6 plastic (PS), such as Styrofoam, leach toxins and are very difficult to recycle.

Yeah. A lot of misinformation in that article. And the ASTM D- series test methods are also pretty much scams. (They're made up by a committee from the plastics industry - none of whom seems to have ever done a biodegradability test before.)

Basically, the big asterisk in all of those are that some of the material MAY biodegrade AFTER being melted and oxidized to low molecular-weight compounds. Which doesn't happen in the real world.

* Yeah, modified celluloses do biodegrade. And stuff like nylon/rayon and rubber. But never polyethylene with magic additives, and usually not even PLA's, which are what is usually labeled as 'biodegradable plastic."